We have kept super busy this week! But what else is new? Our activities included a senior missionary trip to see a couple of Wats, patriarchal blessings, pickleball, house inspections, lunches and dinners with friends, and a mission tour zone conference!
Let's get right to the pictures for all of the details!
But first, we love and miss you, and we thank you for your kind thoughts, prayers, support, and love.
With love,
Elder and Sister Brady (mom and dad, Grandma and Grandpa, John and Shelly, and so on)
Saturday morning, this lovely group of Senior Missionaries headed out on a field trip! Pictured in front of the Marble Wat is: Justensens (West Mission), Merkleys (Area Auditors and Patriarch), Bradys, Calls (our office mates), Whites (Area Legal and Family History)
Saturday morning on our way. How many Seniors can you fit in an elevator?? All of us who currently live on the 5th floor of the annex!
Our first stop was the Golden Mountain Wat. This is a picture of the King and Queen of Thailand. You can see the top of the Wat in the right hand corner.
To the left are the stairs that lead to the summit of the Golden Mount.
Look at these cute little elephants.
Beautiful garden and waterfall.
Hello :).
This lovely purple flower is called: Blue Water Lily or Bua Phuean in Thai.
Do you see the busy bees in the middle of the flower?
There are 344 steps in this gentle spiraling staircase that leads to the top. Elder Brady and the other seniors pause to look at the view of the skyline.
The view of the Bangkok Skyline.
The actual name of this Wat is: Wat Saket Ratchawora Mahawihan.
This temple dates back to the Ayutthaya period in Thailand when it was known as Wat Sakae.
When Bangkok became the capital, King Rama I renovated the temple in 1782.
It was a beautiful sunny (and hot) day!
Did I mention how hot it was? I had to try this sparkling water. It was icy cold and tasted like it's name. Lychee and Sakura (Japanese Cherry Blossoms). I asked google how to describe what lychee tastes like if you have never tried it. Google says it is sweet and floral. This drink definitely had a flowery taste. 10/10 - I would not drink it again! Haha! UNLESS, it was icy cold and the only option to quench my thirst on a hot Thailand excursion!! I am glad I tried it though! It wasn't that bad really.
Hello!
before heading to the bottom of the Golden Mount.
Another fun fact about this place: When King Rama returned from the war to Bangkok, he stopped at Wat Sakae to perform a ceremonial royal bathing and hair-washing ritual before entering the inner city. Following the 1872 restoration, he officially renamed it Wat Saket Ratchawora Mahawihan (with Saket literally meaning "to wash hair."
Another beautiful statue set up against a waterfall in the gardens.
Our next stop was the Marble Wat.
Wat Benchamabophit, also known as the marble Wat, is one of Bangkok's most renowned religious landmarks and a major tourist attraction.
This Wat was commissioned in 1899 and completed in 1911.
King Rama V ordered the construction of this temple after building his nearby Dusit Palace.
The name translates to "the Temple of the fifth King located near Dusit Palace."
The art inside the Wat was exquisite!
The main ordination hall and pillars were built using white Carrara marble imported from Italy. The beautifully designed floors are also made of Italian marble.
This curved gallery surrounding the rear courtyard houses 52 historical Buddha images collected from across Thailand and other parts of Asia.
The grounds were stunning.
The temple is designated as a first-class royal temple -
one of only six in Bangkok and ten in all of Thailand.
Its mage has also been featured on the back of the Thai 5-Baht coin.
Sister Merkley, me, and Sister Call pose for a smile behind this Klong Sabad Chai - or traditional long drum - carved from a single piece of rosewood.
And here we are at the end of our Saturday morning Two Wat Tour!
After we got back to the annex, we met up with Lily Lundberg and her parents, Johanna and Gus! Sister Lundberg was one of our missionaries in the mission. She loved to give Elder Brady a hard time and she often said Elder Brady reminded her of her dad. We also played pickleball with Lily back in the day.
Walking to the subway to go to lunch with the Lundbergs. Fun fact: While we were walking, John was talking with Gus and discovered that not only did he grow up in the Pacific Northwest (up in Washington State), but he was best friends with our nephew, David Brady! Crazy small world!
We ate at Pepper Lunch (not pictured) which was one of our favorite places to eat with Lily when she served as a missionary here. After lunch, we walked them down to my favorite Thai Massage place! They had massages and loved them! I will miss this place!!
We are still on Saturday! After we said goodbye to the Lundbergs, we got on the train to head to Central World for some shopping! Do you see the giant Halloween Ghost in front of the mall?
When we got closer to the mall, I realized the giant ghost is actually draped over the giant Christmas tree!!! By the way, here is another fun fact: it is only 8 weeks until Christmas day!!!
Elder Brady found what he was looking for! New pants! Yay! I got a picture of him walking in the mall and needing to duck under the giant flowers hanging from the ceiling!
Another view of Bangkok from the upper walkway on our way to the sky train.
We walked by a Steinway piano shop and took a picture in honor of the piano tuners in the family who do not read this blog and will not care!
In honor of Halloween, we had to buy this delicious looking Grainey Halloween Bar!
It sounds so appetizing! We haven't tried it yet! I will keep you posted!
Fruit and veggie bowl. I am disturbed by how the Pomelo seeds look like human teeth.
Katrina sent me a picture of Gordon expounding to Henry on a hike in China.
I added Elder Brady with the help of AI.
Sunday morning, I could not resist taking this picture of Jessica and Kaitlyn with a cute little hairstylist.
This beautiful young lady is Sariah. She received her patriarchal blessing after church. She is in Law School here in Thailand. Her English was impeccable.
It turns out she was born in the USA when her parents attended BYU-Hawaii. They would have been at BYU-H when Katrina and Gordon were there.
She was born the same year our oldest grandson was born!
Also, Sunday afternoon, I made these ridiculous chocolate and peanut butter bars!
Sunday evening zoom farewell devotional!
Monday morning, we played pickleball with the APs. Elders Hansen and Knapp! Elder Hansen leaves on November 5th! And Elder Knapp is in John's sister's ward! It is a small world. I don't want the APs to feel bad, but John and I did beat them our first game! I mean we are old, and they are young, so it did feel pretty good! Don't worry, they don't read the blog - so we are good. NO hurt feelings! :)
After pickleball, I came home and showered and then went to lunch with the office ladies! We went to Jones Salad! I love a good salad in Thailand! Pictured clockwise: Sisters Carolyn Justensen, Janice White, Alison Thorsen, Dana Call, me, and Janet Merkley :)!
And then, to complete the day, I went back to the Asoke Sports Club and played pickleball with Sister Merkley and Sister Call and Katie Bunker from the Asoke International Ward. We had a blast . . . but I have not played 2 hours of pickleball in nearly 2 years!
But really we did have fun!
Thankfully, we beat the Monday evening rain!
Tuesday morning sunshine!
Tuesday at the Sister's condo for a house inspection, I saw this bird hanging out on their balcony!
I got a picture just as the bird took off!
Sisters Furlan and Sirisouk did an A++ job!
Hamburger time! This is our 3rd time in 3 weeks!
But how can we be expected to resist this amazing burger! And in all fairness to us, we do share the burger! And we even shared the milkshake too!
The Sisters made a friend!
After we got back, I went to the mall and got a Thai massage for my aching body! On the way back, I had to take a photo of this sign, just for my memories. This sign hangs from the umbrella at the Soup/Noodle Guy's street cart. He has a popular cart down the block from the temple where he sells noodles all day, but he does NOT want any photos or videos taken! I don't know why.
I bought a treat from the bakery on my way home. This is butter bread. I liked it!
And Sawyer wanted to show me his Halloween Costume!
Also Wednesday morning, we had two patriarchal blessings. This beautiful couple, Jenny and Muthu, are from India. They are very special, faithful people.
It was truly a blessing for us to get to meet them.
Wednesday evening, we took the subway, train, and then a walk to the Bunker's condo for dinner with them. I had to get a picture of their amazing view. The greenspace in the middle is Benchakitti Park.
This is another cool view from a different window.
The Bradys and the Bunkers (Colin, Katie, and Stephen). Their daughter Caroline was a missionary in Thailand (we love her) and now is going to school in Utah. We love them and we will miss them.
We got home to find this sweet treat in front of the door from our dear neighbors and office mates! We are going to miss them so much!!!! Thank you Elder and Sister Call!
Breakfast is served! Pancakes, Yogurt and toppings, Moo Bing and Sticky Rice, fruit, juice, chocolate milk, and so on! It was a hit!
Just ask Elder Hansen and Elder Schaffner!
Elder Brady got a new Thai jacket!!
The Zone Conference begins!
Bangkok and Korat Zones pose for a picture at the end of the conference day.
The beautiful Bangkok Temple.
The beautiful Sister Missionaries!!
Another picture of the lovely Sisters! By the way, our mission has four zones. Bangkok and Korat Zones attended this part of the Mission Tour and Ubon and Udorn Zones attended a couple of days before.
My shadow!
Missionaries take a moment to catch up on the temple grounds.
I spy Elder Brady.
Thursday evening, we headed across the street to the Singha Building (kitty corner from the temple annex). It looks like they are all ready for Halloween!
We enjoyed a lovely Thai food dinner at Simmer with our Mission Leaders, the Kanyaphans (both in the front), clockwise after that: the Masons (MLS from the Korat Zone - MLS Member Leader Support missionaries), the Calls, us, and President and Sister Buckner from the Asia Area Presidency.
I ended the day with a much needed foot massage!
Well, it is now Saturday morning. I just got finished climbing stairs and came down to the office to finish the blog! The Senior Missionaries are meeting for lunch at Sizzler today and we have Stake Conference tonight followed by another gathering to celebrate a Senior Birthday! Our days are full! Our joy is full! Our bellies will be full!
May God bless you and keep you!
Until next week!
